This one is a classic; both the book and the journey. The journey to Lhasa in Tibet undertaken twice—in 1879 and 1881—and penned down by Sarat Chandra Das—a civil engineer, a spy and a scholar, in that order—in 1902. The book essentially drew from the notes Das took during his second journey to Lhasa in the winter of 1881.
Das’ endeavour was part of what is known as the Great Game, wherein the British, fearing Russian forays into Tibet and areas bordering the then India, hired Indians as spies to get information about the hitherto unknown regions. And what biggest mystery could have been then that of Tibet, a land closed to outsiders for centuries. In fact, Francis Younghusband’s military expedition in 1903 drew most of its information from the travels of Das.
The British hired Das to venture into Tibet in the guise of a tradesman and bring back information about the hidden kingdom. Starting from Darjeeling, Das walked to Lhasa in the harsh winter through high passes and remote valleys. Not only did he have an indomitable spirit to weather the vagaries of weather at high climes, he had a discernible eye to notice what was happening around him.
He not only took copious notes about culture, practices and traditions of village people he encountered on the way and in Lhasa, but also what he observed about plants, animals and landscape on his route. He describes in detail not only the life in Lhasa—the norms of society and the nature of people—and its unique architecture, but also of communities he encountered en route.
In this regard, quite interesting are his notes on the marriage customs of Limbus, a tribe in Sikkim. Das displays wide-eyed curiosity about the things he observes and this alone makes this book a fulfilling read. This childlike interest raises the text from mere diary notes to a passionate study into lives and customs of people living in areas that were cut off from the rest of the world.
However, as the introduction to the book notices: “Sarat Chandra’s account lacks its (John Hooker’s Himalayan Journals) professional touch when it comes to describing nature and natural phenomena…. There is a depth of insight, a sympathetic view into the lives of people and their culture, an imbuing of personal feelings and emotions, that are rarely to be found in the writings of Western travellers to Tibet, past and present.”
The introduction to the over century-old book is by Parimal Bhattacharya, who has taught in Darjeeling in the 1990s and is clearly in love with the hill town. He traces Das’ iconic Lhasa villa—now lying unattended and in ruins—in Darjeeling and from there traces the life and times of the spy-scholar.
Bhattacharya’s introduction primes the reader admirably for what is to follow in the pages ahead. As good introductions sought to do, Bhattacharya fires the imagination of the reader and helps one understand Das as a person. He, thereby, gives the much-needed perspective to the travels of Das.
True, this is a journey that describes a time that no longer exists but as the present sprouts from the past, it is essential to know the ‘then’ to understand the ‘now’.